Google's Picasa to Launch Face Recognition

Big day for Google: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-10026577-39.html

With a face recognition feature set to launch at noon PDT Tuesday, Google’s Picasa Web Albums will help users label their photos with the names of subjects. That and other changes to the photo-sharing site are joined by a new beta version of the accompanying Picasa 3.0 photo-editing software.

The “name tag” feature presents users with collections of photos with what it judges to be the same person, then lets them click a button to affix a name. Once photographic subjects are named, users can browse an album of that individual on the fly.

Sooner or later people will recognize the imact on privacy this had.  I love this technology, but I’m sure some people will find it intimidating.